Algorithmic Art

My dirty little secret is that I can be a pretty serious nerd sometimes. While I was procrastinating from writing a piece for nonet a few months ago, I reopened a computer program I had started working on in 1998 (!) and modified it so that it would work on my current Mac. The idea is pretty basic: use lines and a little math to make pretty pictures. Although I didn’t know it at the time, it’s an example of what’s called algorithmic art. I remember being totally fascinated by this as a teenager: I would try things, almost at random, and these incredible shapes would appear. Fourteen years later, with a couple tweaks to the program, I still think there’s something really special about these images.

4 Responses to Algorithmic Art

I saw your concert at Sunside yesterday…it was the first time i heard your music in live with these great musicians (Anne Paceo and Stéphane Kerecki) and from my little point of view, these images remind me of the way you played the first set : outstanding improvisations! I was in another dimension, like printing caused by theses images!
So, algorythm art could be interpreted in lato sensu meaning (anyway, when i listen your music, even if there isn’t necessary connection between them). Congrats and back soon in Paris! …for a solo?

Anne — thanks for this. I do like to think there’s a connection between these images and the music I make, because ideally, they both reflect something very simple: what I like. Glad you see it too. I’ll be back in Paris a fair amount in the fall — duo, trio and solo. Info should be here.